Bela Fleck to Perform with The Knights at Schimmel Center in January

Schimmel Center at Pace University announces the addition of Béla Fleck to the previously announced performance of The Knights, New York City's innovative chamber orchestra, taking place on January 28, 2015. Known for transforming the concert experience and driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie, the evening's innovative programming and outstanding virtuosity will bring you to your feet with delight.

The program features the chameleonic Béla Fleck not only as soloist in the New York Premiere of the concerto "The Imposter," which he wrote for banjo and orchestra, but as a guest of the band in three other selections. The evening's program also includes one of the Flecktones' most popular tunes, "Big Country"; "Se il mio nome saper voi Bramante," an aria arrangement highlighting the melodic genius of Rossini's Barber of Seville; an original chaconne crossing centuries of classical and popular music, "...the ground beneath our feet" composed by several members of The Knights; Rossini's "Overture to The Barber of Seville"; and Adams' "Chamber Concerto." This is surely an evening not to be missed!

Ticket prices for Béla Fleck & The Knights at Schimmel Center at Pace University range from $39-$59. The performance will take place on Wednesday, January 28 at 7:30pm.

BÉLA FLECK. Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck is a powerfully creative force in bluegrass, jazz, pop, rock and world beat. Most recently, he made the connection with classical music with "Perpetual Motion", his critically acclaimed 2001 Sony Classical recording that went on to win a pair of Grammys, including Best Classical Crossover Album, in the 44th annual Grammy Awards. Collaborating with Fleck on "Perpetual Motion" was his long time friend and colleague Edgar Meyer, a bassist whose virtuosity defies labels and also an acclaimed composer. Béla and Edgar co-wrote and performed a double concerto for banjo, bass and the Nashville Symphony, which debuted in November 2003. They also co-wrote a triple concerto for banjo, bass and tabla, with world renowned tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain entitled The Melody of Rhythm. In 2011, Béla wrote his first stand alone banjo concerto, on commission with the Nashville Symphony. This work, entitled "The Impostor", along with his new quintet for banjo and string quartet will be released in August on the Deutche Gramaphone label. These days he bounces between various intriguing touring situations, such as performing his concerto with symphonies, in a duo with Chick Corea, a trio with Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer, concerts with the Brooklyn Rider string quartet, duos with Abigail Washburn, with African artists such as Oumou Sangare and Toumani Diabate, in a jazz collaboration with The Marcus Roberts Trio, doing bluegrass with his old friends, and rare solo concerts. And Béla Fleck and the Flecktones still perform together, 25 years after the band's inception. The recipient of Multiple Grammy Awards going back to 1998, Béla Flecks' total Grammy count is 15 Grammys won, and 30 nominations. He has been nominated in more different musical categories than anyone in Grammy history.

THE KNIGHTS are an orchestral collective, flexible in size and repertory, dedicated to transforming the concert experience. Engaging listeners and defying boundaries with programs that showcase the players' roots in the classical tradition and passion for musical discovery, The Knights have, as the New Yorker observes, "become one of Brooklyn's sterling cultural products, [and] are known far beyond the borough for their relaxed virtuosity and expansive repertory." The Knights serve as curators of this year's Caramoor Fall Festival, and will perform this season at Carnegie Hall in the New York premiere of the Steven Stucky/Jeremy Denk opera The Classical Style. In the new year, The Knights tour the East Coast with banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck before embarking on a European tour with soprano Dawn Upshaw, featuring performances in Salzburg, Baden-Baden, Darmstadt, and at Vienna's legendary Musikverein. Recent season highlights include The Knights' debut at the Tanglewood and Ojai Music Festivals, and collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Dawn Upshaw, Jeremy Denk, the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Joshua Redman Quartet, santur player Siamak Aghaei, and pipa virtuoso Wu Man, and the creation of the ensemble's first original group composition. Recordings include an all-Beethoven disc released in January 2013 by Sony Classical (their third project with the label), and 2012's "smartly programmed" (NPR) A Second of Silence for Ancalagon. The Knights evolved from late-night chamber music reading parties with friends at the home of violinist Colin Jacobsen and cellist Eric Jacobsen. The Jacobsen brothers, who are also founding members of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, serve as artistic directors of The Knights, with Eric Jacobsen as conductor. In December 2012, the Jacobsens were selected from among the nation's top visual, performing, media, and literary artists to receive a prestigious United States Artists Fellowship. The Knights' roster boasts remarkably diverse talents, including composers, arrangers, singer-songwriters, and improvisers, who bring a range of cultural influences to the group, from jazz and klezmer to pop and indie rock music. The unique camaraderie within the group retains the intimacy and spontaneity of chamber music in performance.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit http://schimmel.pace.edu or call toll-free (866) 811-4111.

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